Let’s start with (what I think is) the most interesting bill on today’s docket, and see what you think about it. HB 375 (Bolden) changes the date of Delaware’s primaries from September to the ‘fourth Tuesday in April’. I used to strongly support making the primaries earlier, thought September was too late, but now, I’m not so sure. I think that April is too early. The reason the April date has been chosen is because that’s the date of Delaware’s presidential primary. For now. But that date has floated around for years (remember when Delaware wanted to go head-to-head with New Hampshire?), and there is nothing to guarantee that won’t happen again. Especially since the rules of the respective parties at the national level can and generally do change every four years.
Here’s what’s even worse, IMHO. With an April primary, the filing deadline would be pushed into late February. Meaning, assuming that an incumbent files and isn’t challenged, then announces that they won’t run after the primary date has passed, the party voters would be shut out of the nomination process. It would be done by the district committee and/or county party. It would circumvent democracy, much like Rebecca Walker did in the 9th RD by delaying her announcement until after the July filing deadline. Only it would be in February.
I understand the mantra that campaigns are too long, and they are. However, this bill essentially makes campaign primaries shorter and general election campaigns longer. Except that, in many races, the primary election is the general election. Would we be better off if, say, the primary for US Congress and Mayor of Wilmington were decided in April? I think the advantage would invariably shift to the ‘established’ candidates at the expense of insurgent candidates.
While I think that June would be a desirable alternative, legislators are not gonna support that with the current legislative calendar. As written, I think that the bill protects incumbents and the parties at the expense of challengers, so I don’t support it. But, what do YOU think?
Here is today’s House Agenda. Please note HB 340(Keeley). The bill ‘ allows the Wilmington Parking Authority to enter into partnerships and other organizations for the development of public parking garages.’ There are apparently important commercial and business reasons for doing this. But…haven’t we been demolishing public parking garages in the city? I’m confused, and not for the first time.
Today’s Senate Agenda is an intriguing grab-bag of bills.
I’ll be interested to see if SB 253 (Hocker) garners any opposition. It’s another farmers vs. DNREC bill.
SB 197(Hall-Long) seeks to facilitate the dissemination of information to sufferers of post-partum depression.
Can we just legalize it already? SB 181(Lopez) ‘allows designated caregivers to possess and administer, and minor qualifying patients to use, medical marijuana oil for minor qualifying patients on school busses and on the grounds of the preschool, primary, or secondary school in which the minor qualifying patient is enrolled’. BTW, one of my spelling pet peeves: A buss is a kiss, a bus is a bus, and more than one bus are ‘buses’.
Last, and, by a large margin, least, we have HB 383 (Ramone), which designates the Maypole Dance as the ‘Official Dance of Delaware’ for exactly 365 days. (BTW, little-known fact, Nevada’s Official Dance is the Horizontal Mambo). So, kids, here’s what’s going on. There’s no better way for a legislator to hoodwink the masses than by teaming up with some local school, getting the kids to develop some silly piece of legislation, then having them observe ‘how a bill becomes law’. It gets kids, parents and teachers eating out of the legislator’s hand which, hopefully has been sanitized since said legislator’s last encounter with a lobbyist. This is how even an indifferent back-bencher like Mike Ramone builds up political capital. BTW, don’t look now, but that Golden Retriever is fast sprinting toward state recognition as well. It’s out of committee now, and with a hack like John Viola pushing it, it’ll soon be law.
Here’s a wrap-up of what happened Tuesday and Wednesday.
Sen. Henry’s bill expanding the clean needle exchange program statewide passed the Senate. 5 downstate trogs voted no.
Several bills from the Corporate Bar’s annual package passed the Senate and now head to the Governor. These bills purportedly are designed to protect Delaware’s preeminence when it comes to its national reputation as business-friendly. We all know what that means.
For reasons I don’t understand, the General Assembly passed this Resolution this week, two years after “Doctor” Mark Brainard became President of Del-Tech. It pays to be crooked and connected in Delaware. BTW, he’s not a ‘doctor’. Getting through law school (and even passing the bar, which Brainard did not) does not make one a doctor. It’s all a bleeping bad joke.
Let’s end with my favorite congruence of bill and legislator this week. Who better than Bill ‘Lumpy’ Carson to sponsor HB 339? The bill:
…permits craft distilleries to purchase alcoholic beverages that they do not manufacture to add to products they do produce to sell to their patrons for on premises consumption. For example, this Bill would allow a craft distillery to sell for on premises consumption a Manhattan cocktail using a whiskey it produced and vermouth that it purchased.
Nothing wrong with the bill. Passed the Senate, heads to the Governor.
But it got me to thinking. If we are gonna have bills designating this and that as Delaware’s Official Anything, then who better than Lumpy Carson to be designated as “Delaware’s Official Happy Hour Patron”? Betcha the entire Kent County delegation would sign on as co-sponsors. There’d be lots of competition to host the bill signing.